Maher said he was asked by CBS News to appear on the segment. But when he asked if he could talk about religion, "that was a dealbreaker from the start". Instead, he said they would send over a list of "acceptable topics".

CBS News executive producer Rome Hartman has since responded in an e-mail to TVNewser saying that, "Bill Maher was never told that he couldn't discuss religion in a Free Speech segment," and added, "In fact, Free Speech has already addressed religion and we expect others will in the future."